Fall 2018: The Conclusion of An Unforgettable Year

About this time last year, I was jobless, nearly broke, and on the verge of leaving New York. While working on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, feeling desperate, I resolved to make reading my Bible and praying the first and highest priority of my day. Despite doubting God’s plan for my life, I knew my relationship with him was more important than my circumstances.

I kept to my resolve, by God’s grace, and can say without hesitation: 2018 was a year of revival. Never have I felt my soul soar as if my heart were ready to burst from my body—and so often! I saw my desires transformed and my worship ignited!

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man that he bear

the yoke in his youth.

Let him sit alone in silence

when it is laid on him;

let him put his mouth in the dust—

there may yet be hope”

-Lamentations 3:25-29

I shed more tears in 2018 than any other year to date, yet have never known more joy. Tears of sorrow, tears of delight, and, most often, tears of bewilderment. How does God work through me to produce fruit when I fail daily? Why did he choose me though I spurned his goodness?

This fall was a fitting conclusion to my whirlwind year. It was filled with sweet gifts from the Lord. I do not know why he saw fit to bless me this past year, but I do know he loves his children more than I could ever explain. Would you consider joining me this year in marveling in his majesty and enjoying his goodness?

If I may offer one piece of advice (to Christians and non-Christians alike) based on what I learned over the last twelve months, it is this: read the Bible and pray. Be still before him and consider his power as creator. Have you seen his glory? Ought you worry when he holds the world in his hands? Journal to unpack your mind. Sit in silence and ponder his nature.

Praise God! Thank you to everyone who shared in this year with me, and a special shout out to all who bore with my awkward, invasive video-taking.

“You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.” -Psalm 40:5